From left: Dr Alastair Hick, Chief Commercialisation Officer; Professor Doron Ben-Meir, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Enterprise and Engagement) and Senior Vice President; and Dr Peter Devine, CEO of Uniseed.
Monash University has officially joined the Uniseed investment fund in a collaboration designed to enhance innovation opportunities by amplifying the growth of current and future startup and spinout companies.
As a result of Monash University committing to a pro-rata contribution of $3.6 million over three and a half years, all upcoming Monash spinout opportunities and existing spinout companies will become eligible for investment by Uniseed’s current fund.
“Monash University’s partnership with Uniseed is founded on our shared commitment to translating research and driving innovation,” said Professor Doron Ben-Meir, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Enterprise and Engagement) and Senior Vice-President.
“Joining Uniseed enables Monash University to further accelerate our strong track record of commercialising research into world-leading spinout companies.”
Throughout its twenty-year history, Uniseed has specialised in backing startups and spinout companies from leading academic institutions across Australia, including the University of Queensland, University of Sydney, University of Melbourne, University of New South Wales, and CSIRO. In March 2022, UniSuper co-invested $75 million alongside the capital previously committed, bolstering available capital and increasing participant institutions’ leverage.
The University of Newcastle, University of Technology Sydney, the University of Western Sydney and Macquarie University have also been announced as new partners in the fund.
“Joining Uniseed demonstrates our ongoing dedication to fostering a world class environment where game-changing inventions emerging from the University’s research can thrive,” said Dr. Alastair Hick, Chief Commercialisation Officer and Monash University’s Uniseed Director.
“We look forward to working with Uniseed to elevate our work to unite research, investment and industry in pursuit of impactful innovation.”
About Monash Innovation
Monash Innovation drives commercialisation across the university, transforming bold ideas into impactful solutions that make the world a better place.
Over the past five years, the Commercialisation team has seamlessly guided the innovation journey of Monash’s research, processing 561 invention disclosures, activating 213 patent families, completing 165 licence deals and spinning out 26 new ventures based on Monash IP.
Noteworthy spinouts – including Jupiter Ionics, Amaero International, Additive Assurance, Electralith, RAGE Biotech, Inosi and Aravax – have emerged where Monash holds equity and has invested directly to fund growth.
